BRIS-179

Ensure free-standing children's hospitals provide access to all necessary facilities and specialists

Bristol Heart Inquiry · Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report · Issued 18 July 2001

Government responseNot tracked (historical inquiry)

DeliveryDHSC and NHS England state no delivery position (Feb 2026)

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

In the case of existing free-standing children’s hospitals, particular attention must be given to ensuring that, through good management and organisation of care, children have access when needed to (a) facilities which may not routinely be found in a children’s hospital and (b) specialists, the appointment of whom in a children’s hospital could not be justified given the infrequent call on their services.

Bristol Heart Inquiry, Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report · 18 Jul 2001 Source PDF →

Government response

●No formal government response recorded

The Index has not yet recorded a verbatim government response to this recommendation.

Delivery

●DHSC and NHS England state no delivery position · 27 Feb 2026

See recommendation 172 and 178 above.

The National Service Framework considered location of children’s services and access to specialist care.

In addition, the national Service Specifications developed by NHS England through its Clinical Reference Groups define the standards of care expected from organisations providing specialised care, including which associated services must be available to patients accessing specific specialist services. See further detail in Recommendation 181.

From: The Thirlwall Inquiry: Review of Implementation of Recommendations from Previous Inquiries into Healthcare Issues (version dated April 2025)

Site note: DHSC and NHS England's own account of progress, supplied to the Thirlwall Inquiry in September 2024 and printed in the Inquiry legal team's Review of Implementation of Recommendations from Previous Inquiries into Healthcare Issues (version dated April 2025, published 27 February 2026). It is not a finding of the Inquiry. Their reviewed extent of implementation reads “Superseded”. Table row: section 6.2 No. 179, PDF page 150-151.

What other bodies have found

In their own words. These do not change the delivery statement above.

●Thirlwall Inquiry legal team · 15 May 2024

In its January 2002 response, the Department of Health said it would consider evidence on service configuration through development of the National Service Framework.

From: The Thirlwall Inquiry: Review of Implementation of Recommendations from Previous Inquiries into Healthcare Issues (version of 15 May 2024)

Site note: The Thirlwall Inquiry legal team's own notes on implementation, from its Review of Implementation of Recommendations from Previous Inquiries into Healthcare Issues (version of 15 May 2024). The review does not colour its Extent of Implementation cell for this recommendation green; it leaves the cell uncoloured where a recommendation was rejected, where evidence of implementation was insufficient, or where steps had been taken but implementation was not yet complete. Table row: section 6.2 No. 179, PDF page 130.

How this page is built

The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.